How to Read a Book: the classic guide to intelligent reading

by Mortimer J. Adler

the heart of his communication lies in the major affirmations and denials he is making, and the reasons he gives for so doing. To come to grips, therefore, you have to see the main sentences as if they were raised from the page in high relief.

The Summa Theologica of St. Thomas Aquinas is another book whose style of exposition puts the leading sentences into high relief.

Each section is headed by a question.

There are many indications of the answer that Aquinas is...

A whole series of objections opposing the answer is stated. The place where Aquinas begins to argue his own point is mar...

Wonder is the beginning of wisdom in learning from books as well as from nature. If you never ask yourself any questions about the meaning of a passage, you cannot expect the book to give you any insight you do not already possess.

Another clue to the important sentences is found in the words that compose them. If you have already marked the important words, they should lead you to the sentences that deserve further attention.

Terms constitute propositions. Propositions contain terms.

You discover terms by discovering what a word means in a given usage.

You discover propositions similarly by interpreting all the words that make up the sentence, and especially its principal words.

“State in your own words!” That suggests the best test we know for telling whether you have understood the proposition or propositions in the sentence.

There is one other test of whether you understand the proposition in a sentence you have read. Can you point to some experience you have had that the proposition describes or to which the proposition is in any way relevant?

If you cannot do anything at all to exemplify or illustrate the proposition, either imaginatively or by reference to actual experiences, you should suspect that you do not know what is being said.

The vice of “verbalism” can be defined as the bad habit of using words without regard for the thoughts they should convey and without awareness of the experiences to which they should refer.

the argument—a sequence of propositions, some of which give reasons for another.

RULE 7, as follows: FIND IF YOU CAN THE PARAGRAPHS IN A BOOK THAT STATE ITS IMPORTANT ARGUMENTS; BUT IF THE ARGUMENTS ARE NOT THUS EXPRESSED, YOUR TASK IS TO CONSTRUCT THEM, BY TAKING A SENTENCE FROM THIS PARAGRAPH, AND ONE FROM THAT, UNTIL YOU HAVE GATHERED TOGETHER THE SEQUENCE OF SENTENCES THAT STATE THE PROPOSITIONS THAT COMPOSE THE ARGUMENT.

A good book usually summarizes itself as its arguments develop.

the nature of the human mind is such that if it works at all during the process of reading, if it comes to terms with the author and reaches his propositions, it will see his arguments as well.

discriminate between the kind of argument that points to one or more particular facts as evidence for some generalization and the kind that offers a series of general statements to prove some further generalizations. The former kind of reasoning is usually referred to as inductive, the latter as deductive;

Sometimes it is possible to support a proposition both by reasoning from other general truths and by offering experimental evidence. Sometimes only one method of argument is available.

observe what things the author says he must assume, what he says can be proved or otherwise evidenced, and what need not be proved because it is self-evident.

Such things as axioms and assumptions or postulates are needed for the proof of other propositions.

Now, after you have come to terms with him and grasped his propositions and arguments, you should check what you have found by addressing yourself to some further questions. Which of the problems that the author tried to solve did he succeed in solving?

RULE 8. FIND OUT WHAT THE AUTHOR’S SOLUTIONS ARE.

Up to this point, you have been following the author. From this point on, you are going to have a chance to argue with the author and express yourself.

When you have come to terms with the author, found his key propositions and arguments, and identified his solutions of the problems that he faced, you will know what he is saying in his book, and you are thus prepared to go on to ask the final two basic questions about it.

THE SECOND STAGE OF ANALYTICAL READING, OR RULES FOR FINDING WHAT A BOOK SAYS (INTERPRETING ITS CONTENTS)

5. Come to terms with the author by interpreting his key words.

6. Grasp the author’s leading propositions by dealing with his most...

7. Know the author’s arguments, by finding them in, or constructing them out of,...

8. Determine which of his problems the author has solved, and which he has not; and as to the latter, decide which the a...

The activity of reading does not stop with the work of understanding what a book says. It must be completed by the work of criticism, the work of judging.

On the part of the speaker or writer, rhetorical skill is knowing how to convince or persuade.

on the part of the reader or listener, rhetorical skill is knowing how to react to anyone who tries to convince or persuade us.

the three arts of grammar, logic, and rhetoric cooperate in regulating the elaborate processes of writing and reading.

Not until you are honestly satisfied that you have accomplished the first two stages of reading should you feel free to express yourself. When you have, you not only have earned the right to turn critic, you also have the duty to do so.

the expert combines them almost completely. He can discover the contents of a book by breaking down the whole into its parts and at the same time constructing the whole out of its elements of thought and knowledge, its terms, propositions, and arguments.

RULE 9. YOU MUST BE ABLE TO SAY, WITH REASONABLE CERTAINTY, “I UNDERSTAND,” BEFORE YOU CAN SAY ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING THINGS: “I AGREE,” OR “I DISAGREE,” OR “I SUSPEND JUDGMENT.”

RULE 10, and it can be expressed thus: WHEN YOU DISAGREE, DO SO REASONABLY, AND NOT DISPUTATIOUSLY OR CONTENTIOUSLY.

Men are creatures of passion and prejudice. The language they must use to communicate is an imperfect medium, clouded by emotion and colored by interest, as well as inadequately transparent for thought. Yet to the extent that men are rational, these obstacles to their understanding can be overcome.

There is, of course, another sort of disagreement, which is owing merely to inequalities of knowledge.

There may still be other disagreements that are more deeply buried, and that may subsist in the body of reason itself. It is hard to be sure about these, and almost impossible for reason to describe them.

the great majority of disagreements. They can be resolved by the removal of misunderstanding or of ignorance.

He should be as much prepared to have his own mind changed as seek to change the mind of another. He should always keep before him the possibility that he misunderstands or that he is ignorant on some point.

The trouble is that many people regard disagreement as unrelated to either teaching or being taught. They think that everything is just a matter of opinion. I have mine, and you have yours; and our right to our opinions is as inviolable as our right to private property.

RULE 11, therefore, can be stated as follows: RESPECT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE AND MERE PERSONAL OPINION BY GIVING REASONS FOR ANY CRITICAL JUDGMENT YOU MAKE.

The first requires the reader to complete the task of understanding before rushing in.

The second adjures him not to be disputatious or contentious.

The third asks him to view disagreement about matters of knowledge as being generally remediable. This rule goes further: It also commands him to give reasons for his disagreements so that issues are not merely stat...

Understanding a book can be described as a kind of agreement between writer and reader. They agree about the use of language to express ideas. Because of that agreement, the reader is able to see through the author’s language to the ideas he is trying to express.